No Man's Land

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers

Summary: AU. Andros/Ashley Zhane/ Karone Cassie/TJ. Takes place after Countdown to Destruction. On their way back to Earth, the rangers land on a barren planet and face their worst enemies yet…themselves.

(A/N: This is a dark story that may or may not have a happy ending. It depends on how I feel. Oh, and if there's anything you're confused about, it'll be explained before the end of the story. Or you can just ask me. Thanks!)

Chapter 1: No Man's Land

Everything seemed to be going right for once. All seven teens sat in the Simudeck, which was currently set to make the room into Angel Grove Park, and for the first time in a while, they simply relaxed. Evil had been destroyed and there was nothing that anyone would rather do than to go back to Earth and celebrate.

"I can't wait to get back to Earth." TJ started. "First thing I'm gonna do is get a real home cooked meal prepared by my mom. Care to join me Cassie?" He looked at his girlfriend.

"If I can bring my mom along then sure." She leaned her head on TJ's shoulder. She and her mother were starting to rebuild their relationship, after her father left; things had kind of fallen apart.

TJ looked at Ashley. "How about you? I know you and Andros are gonna be looking for your own place soon but you know that you still have a home with me and my mom." Because of extenuating circumstances, Ashley had been living with him and his mother for the past six years.

"Of course we'll stay for a while." Ashley said cheerfully. "That's okay with you right, Andros?"

Andros wrapped his arms around Ashley, who was sitting in front of him on the grass of the park. "As long as I'm with you I'm happy."

"Aaawww." Karone smiled, and then turned to Zhane. "How come you can't be more romantic?"

"You wouldn't like me as much if I were." Zhane replied kissing his girlfriend.

Karone rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure."

"Hey, why don't we all go to my place for dinner? My mom loves to cook and the more the merrier." TJ suggested.

"Sounds great." Cassie commented.

"It'll be so much fun." Ashley added. "TJ." She said addressing her friend. "You think your mom would be okay with Zhane and Karone staying with us too?"

"I don't see why not."

"Thanks Teej." Zhane said patting his friend's shoulder. "Since NASADA offered me, Andros, and Karone jobs we shouldn't bother you and your mom very long." NASADA had also offered jobs to the other rangers, but they all wanted to enter college.

"Really, it's no bother." TJ assured.

"What about you Carlos?" Ashley asked her silent friend. "You joining us?"

"Not this time." He answered somberly. He had been trying to be happy for the others, but he couldn't quite pull it off and they all knew why.

"Carlos is probably going to see Marissa." Cassie teased, trying to lighten his mood.

"You are so whipped." TJ joked.

Carlos smiled a little. "Yeah I am. She's really great. But when I get home I really want to see my family."

"Hey DECA what time is it?" Andros asked suddenly, making Carlos happy the attention wasn't on him anymore.

"It is 6:23pm Earth time." The AI voice responded.

"Dinner time." Zhane commented.

"Yeah." Andros agreed. He stood and helped Ashley up. "You guys wanna go to the food hall and get something to eat?"

The others agreed and stood, but before anyone could really get their balance the ship shook violently, sending them all back down to the ground.

"What the hell was that?" Zhane asked, regaining his balance and helping Karone up.

"End simulation." Andros called, and the park slowly disappeared around them.

"The Megaship has entered the atmosphere of an unknown planet." DECA's voice filled the room.

"How did we get this close to a planet without you alerting us DECA?" Carlos asked.

"The planet was not here before." DECA answered.

They struggled to remain standing when the ship shook once again.

"Planet's don't just appear out of nowhere!" Ashley yelled.

"Well we can figure that out later." Andros stated as calmly as possible given the situation. "We need to get to the bridge now!"

Andros and the others struggled through the megaship to the bridge.

"DECA report!" Andros commanded as he and the others took their places at the consoles.

"The planet's atmosphere is unstable." DECA responded. "And the thrusters are rapidly losing power."

"Divert all backup power to the thrusters. We have got to get out of here." Andros ordered.

"Oh we have a problem." TJ responded as he checked his readouts. "All backup power has been depleted."

"What?" Six voices shouted.

"How did that happen?" Cassie asked urgently.

"I don't know." TJ replied. "But it's gone."

"Guys, I think we have a bigger problem." Zhane looked at the viewing screen in shock. "The ground is coming towards us really fast."

"We're gonna crash!" Carlos shouted.

"Brace yourselves!" Andros yelled. The impact sent them flying over the consoles and onto the floor of the bridge. "Is everyone okay?" Andros asked once the ship stopped moving.

"I think we'll live." Karone answered for the team.

"Maybe we should all get checked out in the med bay." Ashley suggested.

"Good idea." Andros agreed. "DECA, what's our status?" He frowned when he didn't receive an answer. "DECA?"

"Maybe the crash shorted her out." Zhane offered his opinion.

"But the computer system's working." Carlos countered. "DECA should be online too."

"We'll figure that out after we are all checked out in the med bay. We'll just have to do everything manually until then." Andros told them.

They made their way to the medical bay and luckily there were no major injuries, only easily treated bumps and bruises that would heal in no more than a day.

Once everyone had their turn being checked out, Andros addressed them again.

"We need to get as much work done as possible tonight before we go to sleep." He started, easily slipping into his role as leader. "First, we're all going to get something to eat, since the computers are up I assume the synthetron is working. After we all eat, Ashley," He turned to her. "I want you and TJ to work on the engines." They both nodded in agreement. "Carlos I want you to work on the thrusters." Carlos nodded. "Zhane, I want you to check our power sources. Find out why they were depleted."

"You got it." Zhane responded.

"Karone, Cassie." Andros continued. "I want you two to find out whatever you can about this planet and what system it's in.

"Right." Karone and Cassie agreed.

"I'll run a systems check and see if I can get DECA back online." He looked at his teammates. "Everyone got their assignments?"

"Yes," was the resounding answer.

"Okay. Let's get to work." Andros commanded.

Later that night

Andros closed the panel in front of him. It didn't make any sense. All the systems had checked out. He couldn't find any reason why DECA wasn't online. The communicator on his arm beeped. "Andros here." He responded hesitantly.

"Andros?" Cassie's voice called. Then she said aside. "Karone it worked." She and Karone managed to find a way to use the communicators without DECA. She addressed Andros again. "We found some things I think you need to see. Can you come to the bridge?"

"I'm on my way. Contact the others and tell them to meet there as well." He made it to the bridge right before the others. "How's your work coming?" He asked the four that had just entered the bridge.

"TJ and I tried working on the engines," Ashley started. "But the readouts kept saying that nothing was wrong."

"The same thing happened to me." Carlos put in. "The thrusters are online but they're not responding."

Zhane was next. "I can't find anything wrong with the power sources either."

"It was the same for me." Andros added. "All the systems check out, but nothings actually working."

"That's too weird." TJ commented. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that-"

"Something was trying to keep us here." Cassie finished, bringing everyone's attention to her. "That might be what's happening."

"What did you and Karone find out?" Ashley asked.

Cassie and Karone shared a troubled look at one another before Karone began. "The system we're in is the Athos System, and it's been abandoned for almost 50 years. Today it's basically just traveled through. No one stops here."

"An entire system was abandoned?" Andros asked skeptically. "What would make people abandon an entire system?"

"That's what we wanted to know." Cassie took over and turned to the console in front of her, bringing up the data she and Karone found. "The people in the system referred to this planet as 'No Man's Land.'"

"No man's land?" Zhane asked.

"Yeah." Karone answered. She glanced at Cassie before continuing. "Because based on what we found… this planet doesn't exist."

(A/N: I know it's kind of sappy at first, but I did that for the sole purpose of building them up and breaking them down. Such fun. Tell me what you think. Please read and review.)